Gérard Dionne (1919-2…) (ph_3693)

First Bishop born in Saint-Basile, Gérard was the son of Octavie Pelletier and Aurèle Dionne, blacksmith in Saint-Basile of Madawaska. He studied in Saint-Victor de Beauce and Quebec, before going to Holy Heart Seminary in Halifax. Gérard was ordained priest in 1948 and did ministry work in the diocese of Edmundston. Then he studied in Rome and in 1963, he received a doctoral degree in Canon Law. He was chaplain at Hôtel-Dieu in Saint-Basile and in 1967, he became Director of the Catholic Office for the Latin America missions in Ottawa.